by Robert Freeman

Created on: January 08, 2010   Last Updated: May 03, 2012

A question that is on the mind of many people across the globe is if there is life on other planets. Most are looking for a definitive "yes" or "no" answer but the way the question is phrased is inadequate to provide any semblance of a definitive answer. The question must be more specific in order to receive a more specific answer but even with these specifics, an exact answer will be hard to come by.

This question is very complex if all the factors are considered when asking it; which makes the answer even more complex. You must first pose the different forms of the question so that you may derive the correct answers to each. For starters, what level or type of life are we talking about? Is the inquisitor searching for any form of life to include bacteria or are they looking for life forms that we humans could interact with on a more intellectual level?

The definition of what life truly is remains a highly debated topic and the environments where life can exist aren't set in concrete either so the search variables in the universe are endless. The only thing that can be certain is that depending on how the question is phrased the inquisitor will receive a different answer each time. It also depends on who the question is posed to as a Catholic priest, biologist, chemist, astronomer, astrobiologist, and comic book author will each provide a unique analysis of all the available data; arriving at different conclusions. Suffice to say after enough time is spent tweaking the components of the question, an answer must come quickly or the inquisitor might lose interest in waiting for it.

A good place to start when trying to answer any form of this question is to take a look at the Drake Equation. The Drake Equation was developed by Frank Drake in 1961 as a way to explain how many intelligent, communicating civilizations there are in the Milky Way Galaxy. His intention wasn't to explain the possibility of life in the whole universe, but his equation can be extrapolated upon in order to do this. There is an inherent flaw in Drake's Equation however; one he know of when designing it.

The key to any mathematical equation being consitently correct is for the variables within the equation to be well known. Unfortunately, the variables within the Drake Equation don't fit this billing due to the present lack of knowledge on the subject matter where the variables are derived from.

In 1961 Drake used the following variables when calculating the answer to this revolutionary

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